Thu 12 Apr 2012
Anchored off Melbourne, FL

Once again, it was a very restful night as the heat of the day gave way to pretty cool temperatures. Duane is learning to sleep in until about 0600 and Clyde seems resigned not to go topside until then.

We puttered around for a bit and then stopped at the fuel dock to fill our water tanks. So far, we are averaging less than 7 gals per day, which is twice as much as we used during our Bahamas cruise where water is not always easy to find and sometimes up to $0.50 per gal (at least in 2008)!

The cruise north was fine, with some interesting properties to view, and a fair amount of bird life, but for many miles the Indian River is very wide and you don't see much except the navigation aids, spoil islands adjacent to the channel, and other boaters. Unlike the forecast for mostly E winds, they were out of the NNE which meant we could not sail with them until the last half hour of the trip. At that time, they shifted more to the E, so we turned off the engine and purely sailed. It was great and much faster, too!

We anchored in the SE corner of the Melbourne Bridge after a 6 hour run. We can put up with many hardships (temporarily) if needed, but we both agree that 6 hours is a long enough day while underway. The wind should be from the E all night up to about 20 knots at times, so this is decently protected. We have taken bearings on landmarks to confirm that the anchor is holding well, and for the past hour it sure seems to be.

With the anchor secure, we decided to take the bikes ashore with the dinghy for the first time. It was a modest effort to get them out of the aft cabin, up the ladder, thru the cockpit past the wheel, then into the bobbing dinghy. That is, after lowering the dinghy from the davits. All told, it was probably over 15 minutes. The ride to shore was almost a half mile against a chop raised by the E winds we were moving against. It wound up better to get the dinghy on plane at higher speed and we stayed drier.

At the base of the bridge was a nice little park with a seawall sporting a wooden rail. It could only be to support visiting dinghies, so that is where we disembarked. It wasn't bad getting the bikes out of the dinghy and on land, and unfolding them literally takes 10 seconds once you know the routine.

We rode E and then S along some nice quiet roads. Defensive driving is important as we had a few more drivers fail to see us while they yakked on their cell phones at intersections. We stopped at a public beach access area and gazed upon the beautiful Atlantic for a few minutes. The rest of the ride was equally nice and we both remarked several times how much these bikes have changed our shoreside experience. Even if walking were not so painful for me, we could never have walked one-quarter that distance in that amount of time. While it is good exercise, it doesn't bother Duane at all to ride.

We have a treat in store for tomorrow. Diane just got an email this morning from friends in Punta Gorda who owns a place on Cocoa (W of Cocoa Beach) and they are there right now. We changed our plans from a longish run to Titusville and will make a much more pleasant 4 hour run to Cocoa and enjoy their company (plus the ability to walk easily to some stores, although I am sure they would drive us as needed).

Dinner was leftover crab cakes, sautéed snap peas and a little bit of mac n' cheese, and it tasted even better than the first night. It didn't' seem like we did a lot today, but we are both feeling tired. Diane got a snap shot of Clyde demonstrating how he spends most of his day.